Archive for the ‘Rants’ Category

Hmm. Technically its 21st April 2014 now *as I am ‘completing’ this entry*. I have problems with writing/blogging. Something like a writer s block. No idea why. But in these couple of days. I have had several parenthood discussions with a couple of future parents. Natalie s delivery was always the main topic. Now let me try to recall some of the memories. Natalie is approaching two years old, so please bear with me if I cant recall some details. I still recall it was some time during Bulan Puasa *fasting month*. That morning I sent David Ong and Family to the bus station. They were catching the bus to the LCCT airport. My wife called me around 9 am if I m not mistaken . She told me was having gastric after the nasi lemak breakfast. As she was 8 months pregnant, we were worried. Told her to go see the doctor at her clinic first. After a while she called again, saying that she was in intense pain. This time I was pretty worried. So I rushed off to the clinic and we took an ambulance to Selayang Hospital. The provisional diagnosis was appendicitis. So off we went to Hospital Selayang.

Drama begins here when the A&E Department refused to take her in. They said we have to head to the O&G Department. Bloody crap.. Why asked us to come to A&E in the first place? Anyway they said they didn’t know my wife was 8 months pregnant. And to be fair to the staffs attending to us, they mentioned my wife would be better managed by O&G team. Up onto the ambulance again and we reached O&G department which was just nearby. By this time there was trolley and two nurses on the standby waiting for us which was great!~ So it was straight to the 5th Floor where the O&G department was. Surgeon and O&G doctors came over and had a look at her. And they decided to rule of appendicitis if I recall correctly (my girl is almost 2 years old now LOL). By that time wifey was already having diarrhea and vomiting episodes. It was quite bad as I can see her face was greenish/darkish and the fingernails were blackish. Signs of poisons. She was weak and all. I give thanks to her aunts and mom who was there to help her and care for her. The odd thing was the doctors did not start her on anything for diarrhea citing there was a need to do C&S to identify the bacteria that was giving her problems. I had no choice but to have a word with the doctor. I said. Look.. U dont know whats the bacteria. Fine. Start with something that covers broad specturms first and then perhaps narrow down when you get the results from C&S? The doctor agreed and she was give IV Cefuroxime. She got better almost immediately. Purging began to clear up and she got her appetite back. But it was no the end of the story. The next day.. She complained of back pains and the doctors said it has something to do with her kidney.

And to cut the story short.. She had this sepsis from the UTI. The culprit was E-coli. So pls dont look down on these normal bacteria. Sepsis was serious shit and she was hooked up to some nasal prong coz she couldn’t breath and all. And we had a quick discussion with the specialist who said she needs to have IV Gentamicin. So.. I was quite worried coz Gentamicin is known to be quite toxic. Hence she was transferred to the labour room for monitoring that night. I remember I got home around 12 am and I slept for barely one hour when I got the call from my wife around 1 am. She said the specialist came over and did a quick ultrasound and they found the placenta was detaching itself. So she had to undergo an emergency C-sec. So I woke up and rushed over to the hospital. There I sat in front of the OT biting my fingers and all and waited till 6 am. Natalie was wheel out first and I had to accompany the baby to the labor room where they placed her for monitoring. And then I went back to the OT area to wait for Yee Woon. She came out around 7 something. But she was groggy and all. I cant remember they infused her with how many packs of blood. At least 2 packs if I m not mistaken. After was better I went to check on Natalie. Unfortunately.. Natalie had to be transferred to NICU as she was not breathing well. So off to NICU she went. I would like to say that Selayang has the BEST NICU unit . Their doctors are very very dedicated. I may have some reservation bout the nurses coz I was kinda turned off by the methodology they used to feed the babies. Hahaha. Sorry. Anyway.. Premature babies there are under good care . Natalie was released to us after a few days . And we brought her home.

Wait.. Drama belum habis. Natalie was not the usual baby that I know off. She did not nurse well. And she was YELLOWISH. Jaundice is normal. But I noticed she was quite yellow mellow. So we decided to admit her back to Selayang. I skipped ER and went straight up to NICU. So happened they wanted us to go back too. Coz her blood test (placenta) came and showed hypothyroidism. My my.. It answered the questions on why she was extra yellow. The normal conventional UV light did not work. I had this newer type of high powered UV LED lights. And I spent hours sitting in the NICU sun bathing Natalie. Hehehehe. It was very very effective as the yellow goes off. Initially they planned to do blood transfusion as her readings was quite high. But thanks to the Medi Light she was ok. Yee Woon also checked into NICU and stayed with little Natalie for a couple of days. I forgot how long..This is why we should blog ASAP. Hahahha. Not after two years. Natalie now visits the dr every 3 months. She is under medication albeit very very minor dose. I think it could be a transient case. But lets not risk it. I m glad she has grown up into a cute and beautiful child. Healthy. Yea!~

This year alone, I think I kena Tonsilitis for the 3rd time d. Usually started off with a bit of discomfort before getting full blown a couple days later on. The odd shit is.. I usually kena the thing during durian season. Who can say no to the lovely lovely king of fruits? Yeah its heat-y in nature and one should drink more fluid after feasting on them. But this time, I stayed away from durians. I think overworked la. Been shooting none stop every frigging week. December 2012. Best month to get hitched/married. Last weekend didn’t sleep well. Assignments started as early as 4 am and break time was around 2 or 3 pm. Could only catch about 2 hours sleep in between before resuming shooting activities by 6 pm which lasted till way past midnite. Imagine the same routine again the next day. I think my body system is pretty fucked up. So I have been getting sick *especially tonsillitis* every now and then. Been having thoughts of removing the tonsils. Dear Brother Sarip did it. Wonder how it went.. Read online that tonsillectomy recovery ain’t fun Hahahaha. If I keep getting it, I have to consider it in future. Every time I get it, I ll get some form of blood stain. The upper respiratory tract inflammation contributes to it. Probably I bust some blood capillaries whenever I cough or sneeze hard. And the best shit is..Cough also kicks in. Its not the normal type of chesty cough *I rarely get this nowadays* I ll get the damn irritating dry cough. Its like someone puts his/her tiny fingers into your throat and tickles the area. Been on Augmentin for the past couple of days. Had to start Antibiotics coz I was having high fever on Monday when infection took place. Hahaha. I got more shoots coming up. Need to get well soon. Plus..I can t get close to my babies. Its the season I believe, coz I have customers that are having the same stuffs. Cough and cold and etc etc etc.

Most would be aware by now that both the D800 and 5D MKIII has hit Malaysia’s shore. The RRP for Nikon D800 is RM 10899 while the Canon 5D MKIII is RM 11199 (source: www.shashinki.com) . Sometime in 2010, I think it was around November, I decided to sell off my 5D MKII in anticipation of the new 5D MKIII release. It was merely a speculation that it would be released sometime in 2011. I thought it would be around June 2011 or sometime before that. But the ill fated Tsunami threw everything off the plan. Both Nikon and Canon manufacturing plants in Japan were affected. So my plans were affected as well. Thanks to my cousin Anderson, he loaned me his 5D MKII for my assignments. But soon, I knew I cant be waiting anymore. Finally I went and bought another unit of used 5D MKII that came with warranty which in a sense was a good buy as the warranty goes into late 2013. Best of all, I bought it at RM6.3k. Good deal lo..Hahahah.

So when they finally announced the new 5D, I wasn’t that really excited when I heard the specs. Yes..They finally upgraded the AF system. Its basically a ‘1DX’ AF system. I am pretty sure it will be a much welcomed improvement over the MkII AF system. ISO range is still around there there region. I would say its no where near Nikon at the moment. Anyhow, to pay around RM5K for improved AF..I think its a little bit too much to pay. AS of today 22/05/2012, I think the 5DMkIII is available around RM9k plus for CPS members whereas the Nikon D800 is around RM 9.2k (No available stock though). I recently acquired a cheap Canon 5D (now called Classic) for under RM3k. It will serve as a backup camera to my existing Canon 5DMKII body. Despite its considered an old technology now, the Canon 5D Classic is highly regarded for its beautiful skin tone reproduction. Some says..Its better than Canon 5DMkII and for the price I paid..Lets just say its a steal. Mint-ish body and new shutter. What more can I ask for?

According to Nikon rumors, the D800 is not a D700 replacement model. There is a D600 in the pipeline. The drawback is that its rumored to be motorless..This means it would not be able to drive the AF lens. Only AFS lens can be used. Also speculated was the size of the D600 whom they claim is a smaller design compared to the D700. Lets look forward to more cameras. Though, I doubt I ll be upgrading. No money..Hahahaha. Cheers.

Wow..37 years have passed by. My brother is officially 37 years old today. Mom has been taking care of him since he was born till now. I think mom deserve tremendous credits and praises. God Bless you Ma! My brother ‘Yang’, is born with cerebral palsy. A condition that left him physically challenged. Born with an ability to play any song by ear, his magical ‘one’ finger keyboard/piano capability was his forte. Although he is 37 years old physically, sometimes, I think having spent years at home and not much socializing with others has left him with somewhat a teenager mentality? Hahahah. He is very very attached to mom. He will throw all sorts of tantrums when he is in a ‘foul’ mood. Also loves to repeat questions to visitors. Honestly, he loves it when there are visitors. He will get real excited. There is a long list of funny character or behavior. Nevertheless, he is my brother. I have not treated him well over the years. I guess I outgrew him when I was a teenager. I remember we used to be closed when I was around 4-8 years old. Cant recall much. I also remember I used to beat and scold him when I was younger. I stopped doing that, realizing that by doing so I can t change him. He is who he is. He was born that way. He is that way partly due to our fault. So much regrets. I used to see him as a burden honestly. I still do somehow. But I ask for God’s grace to keep mom and dad healthy. God please keep Dad’s fiery temper doused. My brother has been lucky as he is healthy throughout the years. Though, I remember one year he had some boils on his elbow. God..He almost created a havoc at the HKL emergency department. Dr wanted to admit him, but we told the Dr, unless you want to risk the wrath of the other patients, we advise against to do so. Anyway..He healed up with some antibiotics and physical extraction of the pus from the infected elbow. The elbow was swollen badly. So..This year, I ll be getting him Kentucky Fried Chicken, one of his fav. Or..Both him and my sis love KFC la. Cant get him something fancy..No point. Hehehehe. God Bless ya brother. Here are some pics I have taken over the years.

Recently, the LeicaNuts got to meet up with Eric Kim, from the fame Eric Kim International Street Photographer. Eric was down in Kuala Lumpur to run a two day street photography workshop ‘Conquering Your Fear of Shooting on The Streets- Introduction to Street Photography Workshop in Kuala Lumpur on the 3rd and 4th of Mac 2012. Shannel, the Brand Manager of Leica Store invited the Nuts over for a post workshop cocktail session at the Leica Store Avenue K. I think I reached Leica Store around 8.30 pm. I was running late coz I spent some family time with my wife and daughter at the Curve first. It was a Sunday hence Leica has to come second LOL. I have always like to attend Leica’s event, they serve some really fine food. It s not like usual camera events where you have packed jam people. Here we have enthusiast and a good bunch of friends. Most of the guests knew each other. See Meng, Nick, Johan, Scott and I were there to represent LeicaNuts.

It was actually my first time meeting Eric (duhhh). LOL. Eric is a young Korean chap born is the United States. Yes, he speaks Korean if you must know. His first comment to me was “You from Australia?”. I was wearing this “I Lup Melbourne” T shirt courtesy from Mr Wayne Lee. I said ” No la..its a freebie from my cousin”. And the group sorta hit off just like that. Interesting fact about Eric, he is the tallest in his family. We decided the credit should go to American food. I was suggesting that Nathania take some American food to boost her height. So far instead of going up, she is growing sideway. Hehehehe. Eric uses a Black Leica M6 Classic with a 35 mm Summicron ASPH lens. A flash is attached to the camera as well. Its a third party flash. Cant recall the brand at the moment. Will update again once I get the brand correct later. We adjourned to The Library for some drinks. Eric and Luke Ding also joined us for a short minum session as well. I think Eric really likes Nick Yoon s work. Nick is a pretty accomplished photog as well.

We were invited to another dinner session organized by Luke the next day. We were supposed to meet at Pavillion around 7.30 pm. It was 50 50 for me as I finish working around 5 pm and by the time I settle Nathania down it should be around 8 pm. Scott and Nick were the only Nuts that joined the dinner. See Meng missed the ride and he got back home. Johan was busy. I gave Scott a call and they have just reached La Bodega around 8 tish. I took a quick bath and headed down to Pavillion. Soon, the guys arrived and we ordered some food and drinks. My tomato spag was ‘ma ma dei’ that night. Too saltish if I may add. Dinner was quick as the guys wanna head out for a shoot session. Dang..I came unprepared. All I had was the Canon 220H. Hahahaha. Scott brought his Ricoh GRD IV along. A fine fine fine camera I must say. I used it for a couple of shots that night. I must say..its pretty good and decent.

We walked along Jalan Bukit Bintang till Jalan Alor. I was taking random shots. Utilizing a slow shutter speed and rear sync flash, I was able to capture some night ‘street photos’. Eric was kind to provide some pointers to other street kakis as well. One by one he gave a short stint and quickie lessons. I had some friendly advise from him as well. I approach the subject and execute the shots too slow. Hehehe. I admire him for willing to share the craft and knowledge of street photography. A young chap he may be. A lot of critics he may have on the web. But he is truly a nice chap. I believe Eric is a very fortunate young man. He is globetrotting and giving lessons around the world. Kudos. Been visiting his blog lately. I see a lot of negative comments from trolls/haters. I ll say..Ignore them. They are probably jealous. We adjourned the night around 12.30 am I think. I got home pretty late. Eric has a 2 pm flight to London. I wish him all the best for the coming workshops. Here is one of the shot I took that night. Will post more once I get the photos from Scott 🙂

Shot from the hip level, I caught a few subjects up close 🙂 I cropped the pic and titled it ‘3Some’